The story of two not-so-new-anymore dog owners and an extremely cute (new to the city of Toronto) beagle named Duke.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Lessons from "Step Ahead" Level 2 Obedience Class

Tonight, we took Duke to the second class in "Step Ahead" class put on by Who's Walking Who (www.whoswalkingwho.net) in Toronto. This class is designed for dogs who have been through basic obedience and is an advanced obedience course for precision work.

Duke did OK in certain areas but was very distracted early on in class and on the way in. He eventually settled and did some great work!

Three lessons I learned:

1) Put away the lures - We are very dependent on using food in our hands to coax Duke to get into heel position, sit, etc. and we will never progress unless we start phasing out food as a Lure and only as a reward. The quote the instructor, "Anyone can do this (dangle food around) and get their dog to do anything!".

2) Grab his collar and push his bum down - If Duke refuses to sit, or sits and then stands up without permission, its ok to hold his collar and put him down and make him sit.

1) Recap of Heel/sit position2) Heel/sit/stay, and walk around your dog3) Heel/sit/stand/stay, and walk around your dog4) More heelwork5) Heel/sit/come/finish, repeat6) Dog pushups (sit/down, sit/down, sit/down)7) All above using only hand motions (the idea would be you are on the phone and can only use your hand to command your dog)